Crippled by their employer: the issues disabled workers face in work

Abstract

The Government has worked in partnership with disability organisations to protect thousands of people from suffering discrimination in the workplace due to a disability. in spite of the legislative changes and Government campaigns; disability discrimination in the workplace persists and has become an inherent element of emplyment.

Although the new disability legislation will benefit more people and aims to breakdown orthodox barriers, a worker still can experience discrimination and has to take stpes to address it. The Act is based around a medical model, which this paper will show does not provide complete protection for all disabled persons. One of the duties under the Act is a social one, whic places a statutory duty on an employer to take such steps as are reasonable to enable the disabled person to remain in work. The thesis aims to show by a review of the relevant statutory proviosions and case law that many employers are not fully discharging the statutory duty to make reasonable adjustments and further amendments to the Act are inevitable.